John Calipari is sick and tired of talking about the Evansville loss

Well over three months later, Kentucky head coach John Calipari is done talking about his team’s loss to Evansville, no questions asked.

Literally.

At the conclusion of Kentucky’s SEC title-clinching victory over Auburn on Saturday afternoon, Calipari was asked about the team’s loss to Evansville back in November and how they have responded to close out the regular season.

“I know you’re chasing national championships, not conference championships, but in a season where you lose to Evansville and you have a couple losses in Las Vegas…” Kyle Tucker of The Athletic began.

Before he could even finish his question, Calipari jumped in and dismissed any and all talk about Kentucky’s embarrassing early-season home loss.

“You know what’s amazing, when anybody talks about our season, you know what they say? “Evansville, Evansville, Evansville,”’ Calipari said. “I’m like, are you talking about the game November 12th where EJ did not play in the game and Ashton was sick and so was Nick, and we played with two guys with the flu? That game? That’s the one you’re talking about? Can you say it for me again? Evansville, Evansville, Evansville.”

“Evansville, Evansville..” Tucker responded. “When you’ve gone through…”

“I mean, did we play anybody else?” Calipari quickly fired back, again interrupting the question. “It like — and hey, that’s the great one that they can’t be that, because they lost to — Evansville. How can they be any good? They lost to Evansville November 12.”

“In a season where you’ve had struggle and had to grind it out…” Tucker attempted once more.

“Did anybody else lose bad games?” Calipari said. “I just don’t know. (Laughter.)”

“I give up.”

“I mean, I don’t know if they did,” Calipari said, finally getting to his answer. “Kyle, here is what I would say. I told them after — look, I never stopped believing in this group. I said — to Vegas, we’ll be fine. I said it. “We’ll be fine.”

“But I wasn’t sure about this, where this is going, but I knew we’d be fine,” Calipari continued. “We’d be a team that would be playing and we’d be playing in March. And the run that these guys have put together.”

The Kentucky head coach then went back to a statement he made a few weeks back about the team needing several players on the team proving they can score at least 25 points in a single game.

“I come back to the same thing, you’ve got to have five, six games, get 25 points in a game, and maybe multiple games,” Calipari said. “You must do that, because they have to be able to go in that tournament and know: I can do it if I have to; Marquis Teague, Darius Miller. I can do that if I have to; Doron Lamb. I can do it.”

The next thing this team needed? A run of hard-fought victories, something they have been able to accomplish to close out SEC play. The Wildcats have now won eight in a row, 12 of their last 13, and 16 of their last 18.

The NCAA Tournament is about surviving and advancing, and that’s exactly what this team has done.

“Second thing is, you’ve got to go ton a run of games,” Calipari said. “Because to win that thing, you have to win six in a row all year. If you haven’t won six in a row all year, why would your team believe you can do it?

“So all the stuff we are going through is good,” the Kentucky head coach continued. “It’s not so much winning our league, as you guys know, or winning our league tournament. It is what are we learning and preparing so when we walk into March we’re ready, like our teams historically have been.

“Evansville. Evansville. Evansville.”

Thought Calipari was done talking about the Evansville loss? Think again.

Another reporter jumped in toward the end of his press conference to ask about Immanuel Quickley finishing with 12 rebounds and whether or not Calipari ever expected a performance like that.

You guessed it, more Evansville jokes.

“I thought the Evansville game, he’d get 12 (laughter),” Calipari said of Quickley. “I’m going to hear about that game in two years from now, and I’m like, we didn’t play them this year, I don’t think. They played good, too, by the way. Don’t take anything away from them.

“Evansville, Evansville, Evansville. Have fun. Thank you.”

The entire exchange can be found here:

Was it a not-so-subtle jab at the national media analysts and Bracketology experts (*cough* Joe Lunardi *cough*) who continue to knock Kentucky for a loss that occurred just three games into the college basketball season? Most likely.

Either way, Cal gonna Cal.